Blackberry Hazelnut Layer Cake

September 14, 2019 By Korena in the Kitchen 6 Comments

The end of summer is my favourite, still sunny and warm with long golden afternoons but also a sniff of cooler air and the promise of sweater weather (which apparently is here now – we actually lit a fire in the fireplace last night!) and apple pie around the corner. The best part is all the glorious late season fruit – raspberries and peaches and plums (late summer is plum cake season, after all) and my very favourite: blackberries. Weekends in late August and early September, you will inevitably find me crouched on the side of the road or in the ditch foraging for blackberries, coming home with scratched forearms and purple-stained fingers and a bucket of shiny black fruit tasting of summer nostalgia.

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Cinnamon Apricot Pie with Crème Anglaise

September 8, 2018 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

This is another pie from The Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book, and boy, do they really know their stuff. In fact, this may be the tastiest pie that I’ve ever made. I’ve never done much baking with apricots and holy smokes are they ever delicious here! I loved their tart floral flavour next to the warmth of the cinnamon. I finally found Angostura bitters in the grocery store (I guess I didn’t look hard enough last time!) and I like what they added to this pie – the flavour I got from them was almost like allspice, and it was really good with the apricots.

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Blackberry Cinnamon Buns

October 2, 2014 By Korena in the Kitchen 7 Comments

Blackberry Cinnamon Buns | Korena in the Kitchen

Several weeks ago we were invited to Nate’s aunt’s house for a “bun throw”, which, as it turns out, has nothing to do with actually throwing buns – it’s more of a family brunch. Nevertheless, I figured buns were appropriate, so I made cinnamon buns. But not just regular cinnamon buns: I added blackberries.

Blackberry Cinnamon Buns | Korena in the Kitchen …

Triple Berry Apple Pie

August 22, 2014 By Korena in the Kitchen 8 Comments

Triple Berry Apple Pie | Korena in the Kitchen

Blackberry season – my very favourite season – is here, and with it comes the urge to bake pies. This one in particular came about as the result of a very successful trip to the local blackberry patch – aka, a ditch just up the road from us – plus the discovery of a few apples in the fruit bowl that were getting soft and some local strawberries and blueberries in the fridge.

Triple Berry Apple Pie | Korena in the Kitchen …

Happy Canada Day!

July 1, 2014 By Korena in the Kitchen 3 Comments

Candied Salmon Salad Rolls | Korena in the Kitchen Canada turns 147 years old today! If you are looking for a way to celebrate, may I suggest you make these salad rolls with candied salmon, which I posted about over on the SeaChange Seafoods blog. They are perfect to take to a picnic or barbeque, and can stand as either an appetizer or a side dish or a full meal, which is how Nate and I usually eat them.

Candied Salmon Salad Rolls | Korena in the Kitchen

And while you’re here, may I also suggest that you make this cherry almond Dutch baby: it is TO DIE FOR. I made it for breakfast a few days ago and I’m still thinking about it. It tastes like a cross between a cherry clafoutis and a cherry-almond danish, ie: really, really amazing. The only changes I made were to add a bit of vanilla bean paste to the batter and to bake it in a slightly smaller (nine inch) cast iron skillet. So good!

Smitten Kitchen's Cherry Almond Dutch Baby | Korena in the Kitchen

Blackberry Basil Corn Salad

October 11, 2013 By Korena in the Kitchen 5 Comments

My friend Jenni of The Gingered Whisk – fellow Daring Baker, Sourdough Surpriser, and all around awesome lady – just recently had a baby girl, and back in the summer she asked me to write a guest post for her while she takes some time off from blogging to settle into life as a momma of two. I was honoured to be asked, and sent her a summery recipe for a salad made with blackberries, basil, and corn (if you think that’s a weird combination, just trust me on this one!). If I’d been thinking ahead, I would have written about something a little more fall-oriented (given that the baby wasn’t born until September) rather than something celebrating the wonders of late summer produce, because now that the recipe is live on Jenni’s blog, corn and basil and blackberries are – sadly – just a sweet summer memory. But this is a salad that you MUST make, so please, bookmark the recipe for next summer – it’s a killer flavour combination! Head over to The Gingered Whisk for my guest post and the full recipe and to congratulate Jenni on the bun that was nine months in the baking! 🙂

The Canadian Food Experience Project: Making Pie

September 12, 2013 By Korena in the Kitchen 9 Comments

The Canadian Food Experience Project began June 7 2013. As we share our collective stories through our regional food experiences, we hope to bring global clarity to our Canadian culinary identity.

So, I’m a few days late for this month’s Canadian Food Experience Project, the theme of which is “My Most Cherished Canadian Food Recipe”, but better late than never, right? I’ve already written about my scone recipe, which is probably my most cherished one, but making pie – pastry in particular – is a close second. And when I’m thinking of Canadian recipes, there’s only one thing that comes to mind: Canadian Living.

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Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jam

September 1, 2013 By Korena in the Kitchen 4 Comments

Several weeks back, my Mum and I did an informal little “Cowichan Valley food tour”: we stopped by Teafarm, had lunch at Merridale Cider, bought spelt bread at True Grain Bread, enjoyed some Udder Guys ice cream, and did a wine tasting at Venturi-Schulze Vineyards. Of the six or seven other wineries that we drove past on our tour, we chose Venturi-Schulze because in addition to wine, they also make traditional balsamic vinegar.

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Mango Lassi with Cardamom and Honey

August 21, 2013 By Korena in the Kitchen 8 Comments

Mangoes have been absolutely amazing this summer. I keep buying them with the intent to make chutney or something similar, but I never get further than eating them straight or throwing them in the blender to make a mango lassi – essentially a thick yogurt smoothie, it is one of my favorite discoveries this summer.

Ataulfo mangoes

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Blackberry Lime Coconut Macaroon Bars

August 15, 2013 By Korena in the Kitchen 13 Comments

Blackberries are a sure sign of summer to me. I usually go berry picking towards the end of August, but all the sunny hot weather we had in July means that the earliest berries are ripe, so over the weekend I was out with my bucket, lurking in the neighbourhood ditches, picking blackberries. The berries right now are still quite small, with a good tart pucker to go with their sweetness, and if the unripe berries on the bushes are anything to go by, it’s going to be a great blackberry year.

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